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Overview

A spiritual conversation-starter for adults and children to read together.

"A very long time ago, when the world was new...two children walked in God's garden called Earth. One was named Cain, the other, Abel. They were the first children. The first brothers."

We know the story well. But what can it mean for us—and for our children—today? Award-winning author Sandy Eisenberg Sasso recasts the biblical tale of Cain and Abel in a way that invites adults and kids to a conversation about anger and our power to deal with it in positive ways.

Cain and Abel were born into God's garden called Earth, a world of bright days for working in their fields and peaceful nights to share the stories of their dreams. The first children, the first brothers, they were so much alike yet so different—Cain a shepherd, Abel a farmer.

They lived side by side, surrounded by trees where wonderful, exotic fruits of many kinds grew: everywhere orapples, rasdew, and banangerines ripened all on a single branch. The air was sweet with the smell of pinango, limeberry, and waterloupe.

But jealousy, anger, and fear took all this away. Cain and Abel's happiness came to an end, and with it, the trees' ability to grow these special fruits.

In a world often hurt by violence, this retold biblical story gives children and adults a starting point for discussing anger and its effects on those around us. By harnessing the power we have to deal with our emotions in positive ways, we can once again cultivate the fruits of peace—and change the world for the better.

Product Details

About the Author

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, a parent, spiritual leader and storyteller, is the award-winning author of God's Paintbrush, In God's Name, God In Between and many other inspiring books for children of all faiths and backgrounds. The second woman to be ordained as a rabbi (1974) and the first rabbi to become a mother, she and her husband, Dennis, were the first rabbinical couple to jointly lead a congregation—Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis. They have two children, David and Debora, and three grandchildren. Sasso, who holds a doctorate in ministry, is active in the interfaith community, and has written and lectured on the renewal of spirituality and the discovery of the religious imagination in children of all faiths.

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is available to speak on the following topics:

Nurturing the Spiritual Imagination of Children

Tell Me a Story: Reading the Bible and the Religious Imagination of Children

Filling in the Blanks: How Women Read the Bible

Women and Judaism: A Personal Journey

Midrash as a Tool for Spiritual Reflection

Click here to contact the author.

Joani Keller Rothenberg is illustrator of Adam and Eve's First Sunset: God's New Day and other children’s books. She earned a master’s degree in art therapy from Leslie College and works extensively with children as an art therapist and as a muralist. She has four children and lives in Indianapolis.

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Editorial Reviews

Sasso (In God's Name) visits one of the more disturbing moments within the Bible, the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain, to offer children a penetrating and ultimately hopeful response. She begins by citing a midrash: in the beginning, a single tree could bear many different kinds of fruit, but with the murder of Abel, the trees went into mourning, and "only in the world to come will the trees return to their full fruitfulness." Setting the scene with descriptions of "orapples, plumelons, and banangerines," etc., the author kindles the audience's interest. Then she focuses on Cain and Abel, "two children [who] walked in God's garden called Earth." At first the brothers are friends. Then Cain, a farmer, argues that God loves the farmer best; Abel argues that God favors shepherds like him. Tension between the brothers escalates until Cain fatally throws a rock at Abel and cannot undo the damage: "It was as if Cain had destroyed an entire world." Linking the brothers' anger to hatred to global warfare, Sasso tacitly reminds readers that peace begins with the individual. Rothenberg's folk-art-style compositions support the open, child-friendly tone, and while the portraits of the brothers can be stiff and static, her visual interpretations of abstract ideas (worlds destroyed, God speaking with Cain) are strikingly imaginative. Her final scene, a bucolic fantasy, includes a detail of two children sharing a copy of Cain and Abel, a powerful suggestion that knowledge and understanding can breed peace. Ages 5-up. (2001) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-In this retelling of the Bible story, a rabbi shows how the idyllic world of "the first children" was marred and then destroyed by jealousy, unkind words, anger, and, finally, murder. A passage from Midrash Tanhuma provides both narrative and artistic inspiration: "In the beginning God created each tree so that it could yield many different kinds of fruit." The story stirs readers' imaginations by describing pinangoes, limeberries, waterloupes, and plumelons growing on a single branch while the vividly colored, heavily outlined impressionistic artwork offers a powerful visual interpretation. The large format lends itself to Rothenberg's bold lines and streaks of color while allowing plenty of space for the text and borders. In the final pages, the author and illustrator move beyond traditional Jewish sources to show how angry words and killing became war, destroying entire worlds. They effectively conclude this parable by returning to the image of orapples and banangerines growing from a single tree in a time of peace when "in God's garden called Earth, all will be good." Not since In God's Name (Jewish Lights, 1994) has Sasso crafted so child-centered a story capable of engaging the imaginations and spiritual intelligence of readers. Children in all types of schools and libraries will be touched by it.-Linda R. Silver, Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Bold splashes of color illustrate this interpretation of a Bible story that emphasizes the destructive power of anger. Running through the narrative is the midrashic tradition of nature's mourning for Abel.

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